


encircled

by Griffin Raynor (TheEbonHawk)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Anxiety, Co-Sleeping, Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Mark of Mastery (Kingdom Hearts), Platonic Cuddling, just some mild cheesy fluff of the night before the Mark of Mastery exam, maybe some hinted angst given what happens, platonic co-sleeping, potentially part one of a few oneshots along this line
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-06-26 07:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19763509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEbonHawk/pseuds/Griffin%20Raynor
Summary: Terra is too nervous to sleep the night before the Mark of Mastery exam, so he goes to visit Aqua.This is my first KH fic published here! Please leave a comment or a little review if you like this and want to see more KH fic from me.





	encircled

Terra blinked slowly at the ceiling, his frown growing deeper with every slowly passing moment. 

It had been like this for weeks, and getting worse and worse leading up to his mastery exam. It seemed so useless to worry. He needed the sleep, he needed to prepare - he did not need to worry. But he couldn't stop. And he couldn't keep his eyes closed. He couldn't quiet his mind. 

He waited for two hours, and then three. He sighed, turning over onto his side to stare at the wall instead of the ceiling for a while. He knew there was an alternative to this pointlessness. There was a voice in his head that sounded a lot like Aqua, reminding him that she had told him multiple times he could come to her room if he couldn't sleep. He'd been more confused than flustered when she'd first suggested it, because he knew Aqua didn't think of him like that. He didn't think of her like that either, and to him, it seemed awkward to visit his friend's room in the middle of the night. 

But she'd laughed at his awkwardness and explained with all her practical, comfortable nature. "You shouldn't be alone, Terra. We're going through the same thing. So I'm there if you need me, even in the middle of the night."

It was a nice offer, a promise between friends that's not necessarily supposed to be followed through. Could he stand to bother her now? What if she was getting her much needed sleep? 

Well, if it mattered she wouldn't have told him to wake her.

After another few moments of deliberating, Terra sighed again and sat up. He pulled the blankets aside and got up, sliding on some slippers and adding a long sleeved sleep shirt to the pajamas he was already wearing. Then he padded down the hall to Aqua's room. 

He kept his knock quiet, hoping it wouldn't wake her if she was deeply asleep. He waited in silence for a moment before she answered him, only just loud enough for him to hear. "Come in."

Terra opened the door and stepped inside, only to immediately stop on the other side of the threshold. Ventus was curled up next to Aqua, snoring lightly in his yellow and white pajamas. 

Of course she'd told him the same thing. If Terra had a standing sleepover invitation, it only made sense that Ventus did too. Terra felt himself smile. He approached Aqua's bed and crossed his arms. "Looks like me and Ven had the same idea."

Aqua smiled at him and then at Ventus' sleeping face. She smoothed a piece of hair back from his forehead. "He had a nightmare. Came asking to sleep in my room, just like when he first got here. Poor little guy."

"Hmm. He's not exactly a kid anymore, though."

"No. He's grown a lot. I'm proud of him." She looked up at him again, still giving him that warm, supportive Aqua smile. "I'm proud of both of you."

"You should be proud of yourself, too."

She laughed. "Don't worry, I am. Are you going to come lay down?"

She scooted a little to make room, but there was already a good portion of the bed free. Ventus was pretty near the edge, and Aqua was close enough to almost be wrapped around him. He was curled up into himself, and as she lay on her side facing him, her body almost encircled him. There was plenty of space for Terra, and so he kicked his slippers off again and laid down on his back beside Aqua, staring at her ceiling now instead of his.

"You're thinking about the mastery exam," she said. It wasn't a question because she knew him to well to need to ask.

“Of course I am,” he sighed. “I can’t believe that it’s so close. It’s like I’ve always known it would happen one day, but at the same time it never seemed real.”

“Yeah, me too.” Terra looked over at Aqua and saw that she was frowning now, her forehead pinched with a hint at worry. Even so, she seemed remarkably serene compared to him. “I’m trying not to think about it too much, but that just makes it seem more overwhelming when I remember.”

Terra chuckled lightly. “Well, I don’t think you have anything to be worried about.”

  
She raised an eyebrow at him, playing idly with Ven’s hair again. “Why do you say that?”

“You’re going to pass, Aqua. I know that for a fact.”

“Oh you do, huh?” She smiled, a soft light taking to her eyes as her mouth quirked up. “I didn’t know you could see the future, Terra.”

“I don’t have to see it. There’s a few things I know for sure, and one of them is that you are going to be one of the greatest keyblade masters in history.” He shrugged, as if such a thing could be so simple and obvious. “It’s just the truth.”

Aqua’s face tinged just slightly pink - she’d always been a bit bashful about compliments, even though she hopefully saw the accuracy of them. She looked away from Terra, turning her own gaze to the ceiling now, making him wonder if she was comforted or only more anxious, or maybe a strange mixture of both. “Thank you.”

Terra shifted and settled. “As nervous as I am, I just can’t imagine you not passing. You’ve got what it takes.”

“And you don’t?”

  
He sighed. “I don’t know. I think I do. I’ve trained as well as I could. I’d say I’ve earned it. But ultimately, it’s up to the Master.”

Aqua was quiet for a moment, and Ven’s quiet breathing was the only noise in the silence. When she spoke again, she was doing her best to be reassuring. “You’ve got to have faith in yourself. You can do this. I know you can.”

He smiled, his eyes beginning to drift closed. “Hmm. If you’re telling me, I guess I’ve got to believe it.”

“Goodnight, Terra.” 

Terra felt himself relax as sleep finally started pulling him in. “Night, Aqua.”


End file.
